Obama-Biden 2008

Go ahead and say it out loud...it's fun...Obamabiden, Obamabiden... kinda flows, yes? I have to admit that I wasn't surpised when I heard the news this morning. I figured Obama would choose someone with extensive foreign policy experience, someone who was older and wiser, someone who 'knows the ropes'...just the logical attributes that would compliment him and make him a more attractive choice to those who still have questions and concerns. 'You complete me'...I'm imagining the scene in Jerry Maguire but with Barack and Joe...but I have to stop now because it's slightly disturbing.

So who is Senator Joe Biden, this guy who will likely be our VP for the next four years?



Joseph Biden was born in Scranton, PA to a working-class family. At age 29, he was one of the youngest ever elected to the Senate and was elected to his sixth term in 2002. He has run for president twice: 1988 and, ironically enough, 2008 (though he dropped out pretty early in the game). Here's where it gets interesting. Biden had called Obama "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy", for which he apologized later 'cuz it sounded so lame. During the primaries, Biden also claimed Obama was "not yet ready" to serve as president. WHOA mama! There's a sound byte we'll be hearing over and over...and over.

Here is some of the the stuff I read that meant something to me regarding Biden's voting record:

*He helped write legislation that set up shelters and a national hotline for abused women, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
*He helped pass a resolution observing Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, and calling on the remaining member countries of the International Commission of the International Tracing Service to ratify the May 2006 amendments to the 1955 Bonn Accords immediately to allow open access to the Bad Arolsen archives.
*He introduced a bill that's currently scheduled for debate, the 'Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2007'.
*He introduced a bill a few months ago to increase public confidence in the justice system and address any unwarranted racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal process.
*He introduced the 'College Affordability and Creating Chances for Educational Success for Students Act of 2007'.
*He co-sponsored legislation that was recently signed into law to authorize $48 billion for the worldwide fight against HIV/AIDS and other deadly diseases.
*Through his work on the Foreign Relations Committee, Biden has sought to promote the use of American power to stop dictators who commit crimes against humanity or genocide.
*He voted yes to more funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in May 2008 (say what you will about the validity of this war, I believe our troops deserve the best we can give).
*He voted to table (kill) an amendment that would cut all federal funding to the National Endowment for the Arts in 1999.
*He voted yes to pass a bill that reauthorizes and expands the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
*He voted yes on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines in April 2007.

Here are a few of a million and one sites to do more research:

http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=53279

http://www.ontheissues.org/Joe_Biden.htm

http://biden.senate.gov/issues/voting.cfm

http://civilliberty.about.com/od/ussenators/p/joe_biden.htm

Transcript of Sen. Biden's speech today after the announcement:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93913125